Ellis Island Bridge Proposal

The passage starts off explaining the past of Ellis Island and how it was used to document all in coming immigrants. In fact 40% of U.S. citizens can be traced back to Ellis Island. The Island began with an open door policy but later involved a series of tests.

A bridge was built connecting Ellis Island to New Jersey's Liberty State Park. The bridge was meant to be used by personnel reconstructing Ellis Island. The bridge was off limits to the public but the public wanted access. Although there was no bridge connecting Ellis Island to New York, New York and New Jersey share "custody" of Ellis Island. New York is most recognized for Ellis Island and the Statue of liberty since it is a great tourist attraction in NY.

The people of New Jersey wanted access to the bridge to promote tourism but others argue the the experience of arriving by boat would be ruined. The meaning of this work is to find out the opinion of those who are affected most by the bridge. They created a list of constituency groups in which the interviewees had some sort of "expersise", meaning they are interested in the well being of the park since they are around it

Rethinking Urban parks 1-18

     This chapter was about how urban parks play an important role in creating diversity among the urban people. The way to create a successfully intergrated park is to provide easy access like a train near by and it should welcome all those who wish to enter rather than favoring one culture or group more than the other. Sometime parks are redesigned to create a attraction for tourists or to try and keep an unfavorable group of people in a park. Low also discussed the fear of the "other" that emerged post 9/11. Culture diversity is threatened by this fear that exists among Americans. There is a trend of people moving to rural areas to escape the roaring number of immigrants in urban community. This trend is also a result of the fear of the "other".  Parks play a special role in trying to maintain social diversity which is essential in urban life.
      I think this chapter was very interesting because I never realized how important park are even though I use them all the time in the summer. Now when I see a park I see it differently. I can see that certain ethnic groups are concentrated in certain parks and not many parks have this ideal integration.

Sokolovsky + Witsoe + Kemper

                Jay Sokolovsky’s “Civic Ecology, Urban Elders, and New York City’s Community Garden Movement”, spoke about how community gardens arose and how they can create a positive impact on a society. Most of these vacant lots used to make the community gardens were used by drug abusers and other “ner-do-wells”. These lots were referred to as “open sores” of the community.  The gardens were cherished by the elders of the community. The gardens weren’t used just to harvest food as it was in the earlier days in times of hardship. They also played a big part in bringing the people together and got rid of some of the most dangerous vacant lots.

  I think this article was very interesting since this concept of a community garden was new to me. I haven’t seen any community gardens in my neighborhood although I do see vacant lots that can be a garden. I think having more community gardens in New York would be an excellent idea since it has such a positive impact.

                Jeffery Witsoe’s “Caste, Politices, and Criminality in Urban India”, mostly spoke about the caste system in India and how it is an unjust system. There is serious corruption in India’s officials and politicians. Everything is centralized about the caste system. The people in the lowest caste had a really difficult life. They lived in the poorest states and had to deal with the corrupt system and couldn’t do anything about it since they had no power and could never gain any power.  There were many murders and kidnappings. Wealthy politicians were usually the leaders in this large amount of crime because of their greed and hatred for the lower caste.

 This article made me thankful that I live in a country that even someone at the bottom and rise to the top with education and hard work. These Indians in the lower caste were doomed to this life.

                Robert Kempers “The Extended Community Migration and Transformation in Tzintzuntan, Mexico”, discussed the truly extended family of Tzintzutan. The residents of Tzinzuntan were unhappy with the money and jobs they had in their city. They migrated because they had aspirations to have better lives and make more money. Although they would leave for several years they would never disconnect from their village. This is why they are referred to as an extended family. They have a true connection to their village and never abandon their people they always return and their journeys are temporary.

                This article was something I’ve known about. Some of my Mexican friends visit Mexico at least once a year or maybe twice. They are so connected to their culture and their families back home.  I never really heard of people who migrated going back to Mexico and create a permanent homes there. I think it is a new level of commitment to one’s culture I think it’s a truly amazing thing these Tzinzuntan’s have.

Goode+Bourgois + Vigil

Judith Goode’s article addressed the myths of the poor and how they are false. Poor people are stereotyped as being irrational people who make the wrong decisions and who are responsible for the situations that they are in. Goode argues that the poor are not irrational people and they are not always responsible for the predicament they are in. They make the most rational decisions they can given the circumstances they are in. Goode disagrees with several of Oscar Lewis’ beliefs from his article “culture of poverty”.  Goode puts a lot of emphasis on family structure in poor homes. These people could not sustain full time, high paying jobs so they rely on many other factors for money such as other family members, friends, and public assistance.

I think this article stuck up for the poor people that don’t want to be poor anymore and will do anything to get out and live in a better neighborhood with a nice house and money to spare. There are poor people with dreams and determination but they just cannot find a way to escape poverty. It’s unfair to lump them with the stereotypical lazy poor people who don’t care to find a high paying job.  The recession we are having now put a lot more people in to poverty and these people join the struggling poor that already existed.

Bourgois’ article was about drug dealers in Spanish Harlem or “el barrio”. This area was a place where drugs a variety of drugs were available very easily just by taking a walk down the street. Most of the drug dealers interviewed have had legal jobs before but hated the feeling of inferiority. In the streets they felt tough and smart but in an office they would be the laughing stalk because of how they walked or talked or words they didn’t understand. This “street talk” was all they knew; street culture doesn’t teach “white collar common sense”. The white collar world seems liked a whole new unfamiliar world to these Puerto Ricans and those who conformed to the white collar ways were looked down on by their Puerto Rican peers.  These drug dealers had pride in themselves and wouldn’t let a superior person tell them what to do. Selling drugs was much easier and made them more comfortable. In a way these dealers were doomed because to succeed in the work place you need familiarity with certain types of cultural style.

This article was one of my favorites out of all the articles I have read this semester, probably because I have seen successful drug dealers in my neighborhood with new cars and clothes. They were making a great deal of money and meanwhile they still kept their “street cred”. When they get caught they just lose it all and do time. So what are the other options for these dealers who know nothing but the streets? They have to learn to conform to white collar work or they will be doomed to a poor life no more easy way out.

Vigil’s article went more in depth about poor lives and the way these children grow up.  In LA there is an abundance of gangs in these low income neighborhoods. Youngsters join the gangs to get away from home, be safe in their neighborhood, and take their mind of school. These gangs raise their members like parents. These neighborhoods had a lack of guidance from parents and officials like policemen and teachers. When the poor people realize how small they are compared to wealthy people they also realize the narrow set of options they have. They see their “place” in society and often resort to illegal activities as a means of making a living and being safe. These poor people think of themselves as “outsiders” living in a poor neighborhood everyone knows is poor and doesn’t want to be around. It damages their self-worth           

This article enters a part of poverty not talked about often. I never understood why people joined gangs but now I see it is sort of a last resort to belong somewhere in life. I always saw gangs as pointless “anger club” but these people aren’t just angry people looking for a fight. They are being strong and creating an alliance to defend themselves. Although violence is not the best way it might be their only option in these projects that they live in.

Potential Research Topic

Something that has interested me my whole life has been subway street preformers. Born and raised in New York City I am fairly familiar with these preformers. Now there are more of them than ever. I have always wondered why they do this? Do they enjoy preforming for strangers? Has music and/or entertainment always been in their lives? Do they have aspirations for the future? There are so many questions I have. Some of these preformers have real talent and I wonder why they resort to giving free preformances in public. It might seem like an easy way to make money but living in a city they probably want to take advantage of one of the places with the most people passing through it everyday.

Pardue + Lewis

 "In Motion" by Derek Pardue described an interesting type of fieldwork done in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He studied the people through the perspective of transportation (buses, trains). One quote that struck me was "We don't realize how connected we are to the space me occupy." The reason he probably chose transportation was because it brings many of the cities people together. Although 50% of the people in Sao Paulo lived in a type of slum some of them thought higher of themselves and just through their choice of transportation, you can see this.

                Pardue spent a great deal of time with Brazilian hip-hoppers; interviewing them and spending time with them and also with other middle class citizens. The way they traveled in some ways implies the type of person they are. A middle class man enjoyed taking the bus because it made him feel like a “higher” observer of all the city around him. He might even feel godly looking at others below him in a busy city. He described a train ride as “weird”.  Not seeing the city and passing by known places made this man uncomfortable. 

                To the hip hoppers traveling meant “a stepping stone to greater accomplishment”. They used it to increase the amount of places they occupied, “special occupation”, to increase people’s familiarity with them. Everyone had a different view of transportation.

“Culture of Poverty” by Oscar Lewis was much more interesting to me than Pardue’s writing.  He spoke about how poverty is passed down through generations. Children are taught what their parents show them and living in poverty is all they know. Lewis stated that there were two types of poor people; the nice and honest kinds and the evil & mean kind. He implies that the poor are victims in their society and it is their way of life. They cannot escape the fate.

I think Lewis is right in many aspects but not always because there all those people with extrememly poor backgrounds who are very successful later in life and no longer live in those communities in which they were raised.

Wirth + Merry

The two readings “Urbanism As a Way of Life” by Louis Wirth and “Urban Danger” by Sally Engle Merry, were probably the only thing I’ve ever read that made me think so much about how I interact with others. Wirth’s writing was mostly about his definition of a city and how city folks’ social interactions with people are superficial. His definition of a city was a highly populated, highly dense, heterogeneous place. Merry referred to Wirth in her writings but disagreed in some ways. She believed the Wirth was describing the effects of industrialization and not urbanization. Merry’s article focused on her research pertaining to the fear the residents possessed and how different their perceptions were.

                Wirth was a seemly gloomy person who saw the glass half empty instead of the glass half full. He had many ideas that city people would agree is true some of the time. He state that cities and divded based on race and ethnicity and there is limited social interaction between different races. He considers reactions between everyday people are superficial. People are living in a world of strangers and do not care to meet someone new unless it’s for their own selfish needs. There is a deep lack of trust that roots from the unfamiliarity of the people in the neighborhood.  He compares city life to a mosaic. Together the pieces make a painting but they are obviously separated. Cities have no type of get together for all and no tradition that binds people together.

                Merry’s findings were similar to Wirth’s. The idea that people are divided and only interact with their own race is shown in Merry’s findings. She also found the people would not greet their neighbors which supports Wirth as well. She did a study in a primarily Chinese housing project that had all types of nationalities. All these people lived in the same neighborhood and faced the same dangers but not all of them were afraid and some felt safe in their environment. There are so many things these people fear and the deep root of their fear is their unfamiliarity with the person. When the meet a stranger their danger light comes on and they expect for the worse. Meeting someone new is not an exciting experience for city people according to Merry.

                I don’t agree with some of Wirth’s ideas but there are many ideas I believe I cannot argue. I can identify with those scared feelings and those feelings of not wanting to talk to strangers unless I absolutely have to. Many of the suspicious activity Merry witnessed I witness myself in my own neighborhood. I can guess that many other cities also have this similar behavior. How can someone not be afraid when they are surrounded by unpredictable, rude, strangers? I do believe living in a city can be like a jail sentence, your freedom is limited.